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.. | Click OK to receive our occasional Newsletter Check the daily headlines affecting your world. The Future? (May 2, 1997): Billed as "the leading edge of website design technology", Trivedi Communications uses advanced Java and Smart VRML to create fully interactive websites. It's an impressive site, with crisp, clean graphics and unobtrusive animation. There's a link to what is described as "The World's First Smart Site", which is essentially a demo of a fully interactive chat room, Connections. According to Trivedi: "Uploaded within its web pages are complete "smart" programs that allow users to communicate live with other users - without any special software or user skills. By uploading intelligence in Connections, users can easily communicate with other users in numerous ways - live public chat, private group chat, page users for one-on-one chats, surf the Internet and be reachable, send private messages and it even has an internal private mail service!" You can "test drive" the five new technologies that the company is using, although the Smart VRML option is not yet available for Mac/Netscape users. If you're trying to stay abreast of the Web's potential, check this one out. Don't Believe Your Own Press (May 1, 1997): When our staff evaluated the ESpan redesign, it gave us a solid chuckle in the midst of a busy season of harsh deadlines and late nights. Unfortunately, our entertainment was at their expense. We were, as they say, laughing at, not with. In the fall of 1996, ESpan, which has a long history of market innovation and design experimentation, came up with a very powerful marketing tag line. We applauded the notion that "the best place to find a candidate is in a machine". The Wall Street Journal, CNN and other shortly joined in the chorus of praise. As a tag line, the phrase took off and generated a lot of attention for the company. On the web, as in politics, it is very important to remember not to "believe your own press". Self-perception and organizational direction setting rooted in press feedback puts you in the position of reacting to a very distorted mirror. It looks like E-Span will learn that lesson the hard way. Their new, java rich, interface is a bright lime green "billboard" with simple images of attaching hardware as a metaphor for candidates and recruiters. Job hunters are depicted (after careful examination of the fuzzy image) as "bolts" while employers are depicted as "nuts". It carries the machine metaphor into the interesting areas of "fit". Someone should have balked at the idea of describing customers as "nuts" from the origination of the idea. In the office, ESpan has quickly earned a new tag line...."where the candidates are twisted and the employers are nuts>". The redesign was an unfortunate move for an otherwise promising operation. Back to Basics (April 30, 1997): Carole Gromadzki of Image Nine writes: "As the Director of Research and Marketing for Image Nine, a Web design and marketing firm in NYC, I do all the online marketing for us and for our clients. I start with the search engines and directories. For each client, I seek out specialized directories and jump sites (sites or pages that include multiple links to sites about a specific topic) that will accept a listing (most are free). I personally submit the URL to each one to maximize the impact. You can use professional services such as Submit It! ; they will submit your site to a number of sites for a fee (and they offer a limited submission to 15 sites for free). This can be very effective and a great time-saver, but if you feel that your site can't be accurately described in 10 words or less, you might want to do it yourself or hire a firm that does custom submissions by hand. It's more expensive, but specialty sites may require it. After you've gotten yourself listed in the major directories, consider using an advanced linking strategy, including reciprocal links (you link to me, I link to you). Look for relevant discussion groups, forums and news groups where you can post ****non-commercial**** messages (don't spam or post a blatant commercial message - offer something of value for free and only post to groups that welcome such messages). Contributing to digests is good, too - post a response to inquiries or sponsor a few issues. If your site is particularly newsworthy or has a great feature that no one else is doing, send out a press release (several worthwhile services have been mentioned in I-Advertising. And of course, there's always paid advertising. (There are also numerous award sites, so if you go this route be selective in who you submit to - choose ones that have credibiity and aren't part of somebody's "kewl" home page). That, in a nutshell, is how you can get your name out there on the 'Net (don't forget offline marketing as well - that's a whole 'nuther ballgame!) If you don't have the time to do it all yourself, or if you're not well-versed in the idiosyncrasies of Internet marketing, consider outsourcing to a professional or firm that has experience doing so, such as Image Nine. If you want to do it yourself, read "Publicity on the Internet" by Steve O'Keefe - absolutely the best, practical book promoting yourself on the Web. Tons of useful advice, with just enough theory to help you make sense of why you have to use caution in your approach and execution. Targeting Hi-Tech (April 29, 1997): Mentor Marketing Services of San Jose, California , claims that its "database is the most comprehensive collection of major and important information technology vendor companies in the world." By its own admission, the company tracks only high technology companies, and being based in Silicon Valley, is ideally placed to track this fast-moving sector. Essentially, Mentor rents out mailing lists compiled from its extensive database. Prices ($110/thousand for a one-time rental) are quoted up-front on their homepage. The company also has a page dedicated to "Secrets of Searching the Web & Promoting Your Website", whch seems to be largely a promotion for their proprietary search engine, Eureka! Still, it looks to be extremely comprehensive, and, without having followed all of the multitude of links, we're sure there are some nuggets there. In addition to Eureka!, Mentor also produces a piece of software called Linkscan, which scans your site for broken and inoperable links. You can download an evaluation copy at the site. A word of warning. The site is sprawling and difficult to navigate (for which there really is no excuse); it's very "wordy" and some of the "design features" (like the "rainbow.gif" separators) are positively antediluvian. Still, if your market is High Tech, this site is worth a visit. Back To The Basics (April 28, 1997): We've begun the Advanced Recruiting Seminar series around the country. The response has been solid enough that we're seriously considering a second series. We have discovered that a complete grasp of the fundamentals is still an issue for many recruiters. Before you launch your web recruiting efforts, we strongly suggest that you develop at least a passing familiarity with USENET. A scan through our archives will give you a number of starting points. The best bet for really getting a handle on USENET is to begin with DejaNews. The site, which indexes USENET newsgroups, includes a great tutorial on the subject and lots of help looking through old USENET material. Advanced Internet Recruiting Seminars (March 28, 1997): We're going to be delivering Seminars around the country in April and May. The schedule is:
1997 Electronic Recruiting Index (February 23, 1997): The 1997 Electronic Recruiting Index is a combination industry analysis, directory and hands-on guide for Navigating the transition into maturity as an Internet Recruiter. It includes:
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The past 16 months of the Electronic Recruiting News Besides our industry analyses and newsletters, we help recruiters integrate this new technology into their operations. We've added a detailed description of IBN to the website. We'd love to help you.
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